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by Emile Holba
John Surman
John Surman
Composer and multi-instrumentalist John Surman is a key figure in a generation of European jazz musicians who crucially expanded the international horizons of jazz during the last three decades of the twentieth century and is currently at the height of his considerable powers. A stalwart of the ECM record label, and long acknowledged as an improviser of world class, he is composer of a body of work that extends far beyond the perceived boundaries of the jazz repertoire.
John Surman has recently completed work on two choral pieces. The first, Songs for a Coastal Wind, will be performed in the summer 2012 and was commissioned by Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre for the Arts for Coastal Voices, with funds from the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. The second work is a commission for male voice choir, saxophone and piano, that has been commissioned by Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and the BBC and will premiere in November 2012.
On 3 February he will play in duo with virtuosic accordionist Richard Galliano at the Howard Assembly Room in Leeds. For more information and to purchase tickets please click here.
